NYT: Secret memos by SC justices show how they bypassed time-tested procedures and created the modern shadow docket [View all]

The New York Times @nytimes 2h
Secret memos by Supreme Court justices, obtained by The New York Times, show how they decided to bypass time-tested procedures and create the modern “shadow docket,” a controversial new way of doing business.

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/18/us/politics/supreme-court-shadow-docket.html?smid=tw-nytimes&smtyp=cur

...key takeaways:

The New York Times is publishing seven confidential memos that were exchanged among the justices of the Supreme Court over five days in the winter of 2016. They tell a pivotal story.

The memos show how the justices stumbled into a new way of conducting their work in major cases on presidential power, short-circuiting longstanding procedures meant to ensure careful consideration and reasoned opinions.

In the papers, the justices debate taking an unprecedented step: halting a major climate change initiative from President Barack Obama before any lower court had addressed its lawfulness. By a 5-to-4 vote along partisan lines, the court did just that, without explaining its reasoning.

Emergency orders based on abbreviated briefing and almost no deliberation have now become commonplace, notably in cases arising from challenges to presidential actions. Critics call this new way of doing business the “shadow docket.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/18/us/politics/supreme-court-shadow-docket-takeaways.html?smtyp=cur&smid=tw-nytimes